16/5/2019

Kato, Odere eject Okura, Babirye to Singleton semis

Babirye was left ruing a missed chance after losing the sudden death playoff with her partner Okura. PHOTO BY
EDDIE CHICCO

By DARREN ALLAN KYEYUNE

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KAMPALA. Even after a wait, Samuel Kato and Charles Odere’s fairytale run continued in the Entebbe Singleton Challenge after they defeated Moureen Okura and Martha Babirye 1-up via the sudden-death play-off at the par-71 course yesterday.

The two pairings’ match was halted by bad light on Saturday with Kato and Odere leading 1-up on the fairway of the the par-4 17th. And when Entebbe club captain Edwin Tumusiime rescheduled the contest for yesterday, the gentlemen held on to advance. Handicap three player Kato and Odere playing off handicap 18 lost on No.17 before they squared on the par-4 No.18. When they arrived on par-5 Hole No.1 for the sudden-death, they finally got the edge.

“It is a really great opportunity for us to go far,” stated Kato. Their pairing eliminated defending champions Peace Kabasweka and Sheila Kesiime. “It is not easy for us single handicappers when we face high handicappers in match-play competitions,” Kato stated. They now have a proper glance at the overall prize - tickets courtesy of RwandAir to the Dubai OMEGA Desert Classic in January, 2020. “We now have a chance to win. All we have to do is continue training,” added Kato. But the losing party rued the postponement of their match. “It is difficult for a player to keep the same mojo for a match played over two days,” said Babirye.

“Even though it rained on Saturday, more than 100 players played and finished but how come our match in the main draw couldn’t finish?” the handicap four player argued. “It is in our interest to have the games end on one day,” Tumusiime reacted, “But in the event that they don’t, there is always a provision that they play and finish on another day,” he added. Tumusiime will be the match referee this afternoon when Silver Rugambwa and Ashraf Bagalana meet Robert Busingye and Richard Lutwama again in a sudden-death play-off. These two pairings tied on Saturday all-square after 18 holes.